Let them eat Cake

This Applicon system was designed for batching, blending and packaging up to 9 tons per hour of cake mix, bakery blends or nutraceutical products. Major ingredients come from FIBC bulk bags, or eventually from silos. Minor ingredients are dumped from bags, or manually weighed from pails and small bags. The system is designed for minimal cross contamination between batches, and minimum labor for handling.

Bulk Bag Dispensing

Six Applicon StHd-2 FIBC dispensers each have an electric hoist to allow the operator to keep the ingredient supply on hand and ready to refill the holding bins. Air actuated massage tables flex the bottom of the FIBC to keep product moving to the bag discharge spout.

The handbox allows the sack spout to be untied and then opened without risk to the operator. A vent port tied to the dust collector keeps the handbox and hopper under a slight vacuum, eliminating dust emissions as the hopper is refilled. This dust control also helps when the bulk bag goes empty. Simply lower the hoist to collapse the bag, then remove the spout from the handbox.

Each hopper holds 11 cu.ft. ( 300 l) and all rest on vibration isolators. When the hopper vibrator is ON, all of the energy is transmitted to the stored ingredient, ensuring product extraction. The dispenser frame and even the conveyor below, are isolated from vibration.

Inclined Screw

Applicon food grade flexible screw conveyors are isolated from the feed hopper above by a flex sleeve, allowing the hopper outlet to vibrate unconstrained. Equipped with VFD, each conveyor delivers up to 700 lb/minute to the filling scale until the dribble set point, and then slows to trickle feed rate.

FIBC Weigh Filling

Each of the two Applicon bulk bag filling scales acts as a batch scale. Upon verification that the operator has suspended a new sack and connected the inlet spout, the Major ingredients are metered successively directly into the top spout of each Filler.

Minor Weighing

Pre-weighed Minor ingredients, either full or partial 50 lb. bags, are dumped from the mezzanine above the Fillers, upon a Ready prompt. These minors are enrobed by the Majors.

When the bulk bag reaches Full Batch, the forklift raises the filled bag on a skid or slip sheet. Upon reaching zero weight, the bag straps and the spout seal are released automatically. The batch is ready to move the blending platform.

Modular Platform

Applicon designed the blender platform as three 10 x 25 ft. modules, pre-decked, pre-painted white FDA epoxy, and fitted with removable handrail. The structures were also pre-drilled to receive the two crane ways, allowing the monorail crane structures to also be erected in a day. The deck has sufficient room for a pallet jack to move skids of bags or pre-weighed, or to accumulate FIBCs.

Blenders

The two Applicon double ribbon blenders are medium size, each 4’ dia x 10’ ft. long ( 120 cu.ft. working volume). Each will turn a batch every 30 minutes: 5 minutes fill, 20 minutes blend, 5 minutes discharge. Together, the system throughput can reach 18,000 lb. per hour.

Liquid Additions

Each blender has a manifold to spray liquids evenly into the 10 ft. long blender body. Applicon’s oil dispensary operates on loss-in-weight, ending the oil batch at setpoint and then purging the spray line with low pressure air.

Integrated Bulk Bag Filling

As with major ingredients on the front end of the system, the blended product also discharges to FIBC weigh fillers, typically into the same bulk bags that were used to fill the blender. A sanitary diverter under each blender directs product into A or B station. The empty bags are suspended as they are filled, ensuring the bag is full and stable on the pallet or slip sheet. These fill stations can also accommodate stainless portable bins.

Each monorail crane lifts and moves a bulk bag or rigid portable bin, placing it atop the blender port. The middle port has a small door with a fixed safety grate, for inspection and dumping micro ingredients, or any test ingredient. For easy sanitation, the entire center cover is hinged and safety interlocked, allowing an operator to vacuum or wash down the interior of the blender.

Dispensing to Packaging

The filled bulk bags are moved to an adjacent bay where they are raised and feed into vertical auger fillers

One Vendor, One Builder
Applicon designs and builds batching, blending, handling, and packaging systems. One source of equipment, one responsible vendor.

We specialize in building systems for tight spaces and tight budgets.